Category: Art

Happy Birthday, Woody Allen!

December 1, 2008
ArtComedyMovies
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Happy Birthday to Woody Allen!

Woody is one of America’s greatest filmmakers and humorists. A short overview of his life and career is here on Wikipedia. But that does not do it justice. The man has been making very-good-to-outstanding films since the 60s and continues today. And that is not to even mention his books, plays, or his clarinet playing. He is one of the truly great artists of our time and I honor him by wishing him a wonderful birthday.

The main thing, though? His films. So many deserving, quality films. Here are my “Top 11” Woody Allen films, at least for today, in no particular order:

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The Making Of A Garden Stone

October 22, 2008
ArtFamilyMy Life
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A few weeks ago I made a post about how we bought a very special brick for the grandkids. And that was very cool, check it out if you haven’t already. But this is a little different. It’s a garden stone for my mom. She is gone now, passed away this spring, but when she was here she touched a lot of lives and will not soon be forgotten.

My wife Petra B had this great idea. In my Mom’s honor, she suggested making a garden stone in her memory. You can see the final product in the picture on the right. Mom. 2008. Betty Jo.

Petra got the ball (the stone?) rolling and did most of the work including mixing the cement, but I helped some with the lettering and finishing work. The glass (yes, those are glass pieces) inset into the stone is her work, she is the artist. Thank you so much Petra B for the great idea.

We put the stone in our yard, next to some plants (mums, coincidentally) that my co-workers gave me around the time of the funeral.

The Excellent Seattle Trip: Days 6 – 8

September 9, 2008
AlcoholArtBooksBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian
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Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!

Monday 9/1

The last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Yikes! So let’s enjoy it!! After a quick monorail ride to the festival grounds, we strategized in the hospitality area. And we ate. Hey, you gotta eat or you’ll die, right? We started the days entertainment with an hour containing two short independent fims grouped loosely under the title of Portrait Of The Artist. The films were a bit weird but harmless and not bad really. Then on to the main stage for recently popular modern rockers Paramore. They are a young and energetic band with a charismatic female singer, and we were up pretty close to the stage. I had ony heard a song or two by them but ended up liking their entire set. I’ll have to watch for their CD. Oh, and as a general side note, there will be pictures of them and the rest of the trip up on this site soon. Check back often! Then, when the pictures are not here yet, you can grumble “Why is Steven so slow?” Ha! It’s fun, try it! Anyway,

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The Excellent Seattle Trip: Days 4 – 5

September 5, 2008
AlcoholArtBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian

Bumbershoot 2008Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!

Saturday 8/30

Today is the first day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We are totally psyched and even more ready. Lots of music and almost every kind of arts spanning what, 15 or so stages, and elsewhere on the grounds too. It’s huge and wonderful! Check out their web site! We got there and ended up standing in a bit of a line to get in, since it is such a popular event. Once in, we headed to the hospitality area. Since we had bought the “gold passes“, we got an indoor area (with private restrooms) and free snacks and beverages all day long. We were with friends Larry and Robin and we met up with Mama O and her posse there too. Then the various groups headed their various ways. Petra and I went to see

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The Excellent 2008 Seattle Trip: Days 1 – 3

September 4, 2008
AlcoholArtBumbershootCoffeeFoodFriendsMusicMy LifePoliticsSeattleTravelVegetarian
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The Space Needle

Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!

Wednesday 8/27

We flew into Seattle. Actually the plane did, but we were on it. There was me and Petra, friends Larry and Robin, and Mama O (who would meet up with the rest of her posse later). We took a crowded bus to the Camlin hotel. It let us off right across the street which was very convenient. We checked in and took a quick look at the nice rooms. But of course we were all hungry so we walked a block over to Cyber Dogs Internet Cafe and Vegetarian Oasis, a great vegetarian hot dog place. The dogs are meatless but good and the toppings more than make up for that. I’ve tried a couple different ones over the last few trips and all were great. The menu is here, check out the specialty dogs. After food, what else is important? You guessed it. We took a quick and easy bus ride to the state-run liquor store. Yar!! Then we started walking back to the hotel and

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A Day In The Life – Take 3

August 19, 2008
ArtMusicMy LifeSports

Art, Cats, In The ZoneIt is actually two days in the life, but who’s counting?

It started Saturday the 16th with the First Annual Elk Grove Artists Open Home Studio Tour. We got a bit of a late start and only had time for three or so stops. However, each stop had multiple artists showing their work. And just in thos stops we saw African tile art and dolls, various types of painting, fused glass, beading, and more. We ran out of time because [more after the jump]

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A Day In The Life – Take 2

July 29, 2008
ArtFriendsMy LifeTravel
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Chihuly ExhibitLast Friday we took a day trip and met up with friends Larry and Robin in San Francisco. The main reason? To see the Chihuly Exhibit at the DeYoung Museum. Dale Chihuly is the most famous glass artist working today and for good reason. Check out his wikipedia page to learn more about him or his official site to see more of his work. I”m serious, his work is amazing.

But wait! There’s more! You can see our pictures of the Chihuly Exhibit on Petra’s site or go directly to them here. The pieces look awesome and when you remember that it is all glass it is even more stunning. One work was over 30 feet long, others filled a room or a stage. The presentation was superb but it was the glass that was the true star. Take a look, I’ll bet you will agree. And, oh yeah, we toured most of the rest of the museum too.

That was well worth the trip, but while there we grabbed lunch at the DeYoung Cafe and then dinner at a vegetarian chinese place that is going out of business at the end of the month. No need to link to them I guess ;-(

Have you seen the exhibit? Ot at least Petra’s photos? What do you think?

New Pix! Well, New To You Anyway…

July 17, 2008
ArtBumbershootMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel

Space NeedleGreetings, gentle readers. I have finally posted the pictures from last year’s Seattle trip! See the glory of the Emerald City, view us and our posse, check out the annual Bumbershoot Festival, and much more! You can also read an exciting written summary of what we did, which will amaze and astound you. And the photos! There are some that we took and also some different ones that Larry and Robin took. Check ’em out and let me know what you think…

Click here to see the pictures now!

A Day In The Life – Take 1

July 13, 2008
ArtFoodMixmastersMusicMy LifeVegetarian

Yesterday Petra B was at an art class so I decided to start getting caught up on my Mixmasters CD reviews. Or get ONE done at least! (If you don’t know what Miximasters is, click here for the old web site then click on Mixmasters along the bottom of the page). And yes, I did get a review done, and another CD ready to review today. Once PB got home, we headed out to run an errand and then to check out a Second Saturday art installation in the Curtis Park area, at the Tangent gallery. Strange art but very cool.

Then we went next door to the Coffee Garden, a great coffee shop in the Curtis Park area that has entertainment and a large indoor and outdoor seating area. Free Wi-Fi too, of course, but we didn’t have the laptops. A woman was playing guitar, then viola, then accordian, and singing (The Heather Show) We watched her for 20-30 or so minutes.But it was getting late and we were hungry!

So it was off for our first visit to Andy Nguyen Vegetarian. Yeah, the whole place is vegetarian, maybe even vegan, I didn’t check that. But we could actually order anything on the menu! Woo! Some of the items have wild names like Unending Bliss or Supreme Awareness and things like that. And there was some new-age type music playing. But the food was good and the place was nice and the service was decent too. My dish was described as spicy and it wasn’t really. But it was good. No alcohol served, though. Anybody out there even eaten there? If so, what did you think?

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